Country Roads Magazine "Visual Arts Issue" November 2021

Noteworthy

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CURIOSITIES

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Photographing “Home”

OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART ISSUES CALL FOR ENTRIES TO THE DARRYL CHAPPELL FOUNDATION PHOTOGRAPHER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

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“RaMell Ross, iHome, 2012, Pigment print, 36’’ x 46’’, Courtesy of Ogden Museum of Southern Art.” This image will be on view at the Ogden throughout November in Ross’ solo exhibition, Spell, Time, Practice, American, Body.

ike beauty, the concept of “home” sits squarely in the eye of the beholder. This fall, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art is inviting photographers of African descent to behold the concept of “home” in the South by applying to a photographer-in-residence program, funded by the Darryl Chappell Foundation and open to Afrodescendants twenty-one and older who have been practicing photography for five years or more. Although photographers from everywhere are eligible, strong consideration will be given to those living and working in the rural American South. Applications received by the November 23 deadline will be reviewed by Ogden’s curatorial department.

The selected photographer will serve as Photographer-in-Residence from April through June, 2022, working closely with Ogden curators, and also with local photographer and mentor L. Kasimu Harris to grow and foster their connections and presence within the New Orleans arts community. The photographer will be the subject of a solo exhibition and online educational programming at Ogden Museum, and will receive stipends and living allowances totalling $11,000. In addition, two works of art by the photographer will be added to the museum’s permanent collection following the show.

“Over the last ten years the focus of Ogden Museum’s photography programming has been promoting, cultivating, and collecting works by underrepresented, marginalized and emerging photographers,” said William Pittman Andrews, Executive Director of Ogden Museum.

“The Darryl Chappell Foundation Photographer-in-Residence grant will help us to continue our efforts to support the artist community and lift up the powerful artistic voices of our time.”

The residency begins on April 15, 2022 and runs through June 17, 2022. To apply, visit ogdenmuseum.org. For more information call (504) 539-9622.

—James Fox-Smith

“Play it Again” Gets an Encore THE ACA’S INSTRUMENT DONATION PROGRAM CONTINUES TO PUT INSTRUMENTS INTO KIDS’ HANDS

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ouis Armstrong’s first instrument was a ten dollar cornet he purchased in a New hOrleans pawnshop as a teenager. He described it as “all bent up,” with “holes knocked in the bell.” The fact that the instrument was secondhand and in poor shape clearly didn’t deter Armstrong from eventually becoming one of New Orleans’ greatest early jazz musicians.

The fact is, humble beginnings are far better than no beginnings at all. Even if talent shows no bias toward one class group over another, accessibility frequently does—particularly when it comes to music education, with instruments bearing steep price tags.

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That’s where the Acadiana Center for the Arts’ “Play it Again” Instrument Recycling Program comes into, well, play.

The ACA, with the help of sponsors Lafayette Music Company, Associated Travel, the Martial F. Billeaud, Sr. Foundation, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, requests donations of any musical instruments in decent condition— from trumpets, to flutes, to guitars, and beyond—that one might have in their home collecting more dust than use. After making necessary repairs, the ACA then distributes those instruments directly to children whose families otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them.

Since its beginnings in 2013, the

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“Play it Again” program has put more than eight hundred donated instruments into the hands of public school kids throughout Acadiana. “We hope this will over-come the significant cost barrier for young people who will benefit from the fun, rigor, and challenge of learning a musical instrument,” said Executive Director of the ACA Sam Oliver. Even if a kid doesn’t necessarily become the next Satchmo, learning an instrument is proven to have numerous benefits on individual development: children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in their other studies, to have enhanced critical thinking skills, and are even more like-

ly to pursue higher education. Now in its ninth year, the program is currently accepting donations until December 31—so if you think it’s likely the termites will get to that old violin before you do, consider dropping it off at one of the donation sites. Who knows: you could be jumpstarting the career of a future virtuoso.

Instrument donations can be made to Lafayette Music Company and Acadiana Center for the Arts until December 31. All donations are tax deductible and donors will receive written documentation of their gifts. acadianacenterforthearts.org —Alexandra Kennon